BMW has always been a premium brand, but it didn’t always make great cars… and then the BMW 535d came along.
By Bob Flavin at www.smokerspack.com
BMW is a premium brand, they have been that way for as long as most of us can remember, but not all their cars were great. In fact, I would go so far as to say that lots of them were boring to drive, aside from the rear wheel drive fun you can have.
Most of the 3 series were bland and the 5 series was too hard on the road. That’s until 2003 when the E60 came out. At first most commentators thought it was ugly but it turned out to be just an ugly duckling. In the end BMW stuck with the design until earlier this year.
The E60 changed the way I though about diesel powered cars; the 530d was a great car for long open motorway journeys but although the 535d was powered by the same engine BMW has shoe-horned in a second turbo. One turbo got you moving and the other took over when things got going. The torque it put out has to be experienced, 413lb ft at 2000rpm – that’s more than an M5! It even sounds good, with no agricultural noises to speak of.
The 535d is a proper 4-door, 5-seat saloon car with a huge boot that can get to 60mph in some 6.5 seconds but can still return about 40mpg if you don’t drive it like your hairs on fire. On the motorway, the big Beemer is at home. Wafting along from bend to bend is truly a lovely experience, you could easily cross a continent and arrive the other end, remember you left your phone at home, turn around and drive back with out any aches or pains.
Smile
On the tighter roads the car firms up, it seems to shake off the cruiser attitude and comes to life. It’s a strange experience throwing a huge saloon car with this much power into a tight corner and come out the other side with a smile on your face, the rear wheel drive copes well with anything and makes the car fun to push.
Turn off the traction control and you’ll have no back tyres by the time you’re in third, as the wheels will spin up through most of the gears.
There is a new 535 coming from BMW soon but I’m not sure that you’ll stand out from the crowd in the new model as much as the old. There’s a certain something about the outgoing model that has more status then the new, plus you’ll get huge respect for daring to buy a 3.0 diesel in the old tax bracket, it may even look like you have more money than people who buy the new model.
The big engine needs regular servicing but if it’s done properly it will go around the clock. Get one with a full service history and an M body kit but say away from the heavily tinted windows, you’ll just look like a drug dealer.
You can expect to pay between €23-25,000 for a good example from 2007, or go back a couple of years for some big bargains. If you buy one, mark my words, you’ll be getting a future classic.
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